Losses Against Top Teams Haven’t Shaken Confidence of Carson Coach

Carson football Coach David Williams is still coming to grips with his team’s 0-2 start.

“It hasn’t been a very good week,” he said before practice Tuesday. “When you lose, you’re not very happy. I’ve never been 0-2. It’s a new situation for me.”

To put it in perspective, Williams is one loss away from equaling the number of defeats he had in three seasons as Carson’s B coach.

Some might say the jump to varsity competition has overwhelmed Williams.

Actually, Carson’s slow start is not all that surprising when you consider the strength of its first two opponents. Bishop Amat and San Diego Morse were, after all, a combined 29-0 in 1992. They opened the current season ranked 1-2 in the state by Cal Hi-Sports.

Taking that into account, Carson’s losses to Bishop Amat, 14-0, and Morse, 15-7, don’t look so bad--except maybe to those who expect the Colts to win every game, regardless of the opponent.

Williams is aware of those expectations, and he welcomes them.

“The bottom line is we didn’t win,” he said. “I know the school and the community expect us to win, and they should. Before it’s all over, we will make them proud of us.”

Williams said he has no intention of softening Carson’s nonleague schedule in the future. The Colts also lost to Bishop Amat and Morse last season.

“I plan to schedule both teams next year,” he said. “I want to do better, and I think we can do better. We could be beating some (lesser) teams and be full of ourselves, but we can’t shy away from competition.”

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Carson hopes to get its first victory Friday night against Anaheim Servite at Cal State Fullerton.

Servite has enjoyed considerable success in football, producing such players as Phoenix Cardinals quarterback Steve Beuerlein and New Orleans Saints running back Derek Brown. But the Friars have yet to score in 1993, losing to Mater Dei, 21-0, and Placentia Valencia, 38-0.

In Servite, Williams sees a mirror image of his team.

“Servite is in a very similar situation,” he said. “They’ve had to play some green people and they’re in an unusual spot. I talked to their coach (Larry Turner) and he’s very down too. He said they had five or six fumbles last week.”

Likewise, Carson is trying to reduce its offensive mistakes and find the right combination of players. The team switched quarterbacks last week against Morse--going with junior Ramon Rogers over senior Tony Harvey--and has been hurt by the absence of wingback Shadeed Muhammad, who has yet to play because of a knee injury. Muhammad was the Colts’ second-leading receiver last season.

“I can’t emphasize enough how much his absence is hurting us,” Williams said. “He’s an athlete and a veteran player who does things well in the clutch. We’ve had some dropped balls in both games at crucial times.

“(Muhammad) is more likely to make that catch and make yards after the catch. Also, he’s a fiery leader type of guy. He’s been on the sidelines helping but, of course, his ability to lead would be enhanced if he was dressed and playing.”

Williams does not expect Muhammad to play for at least two more weeks. Carson will also be without center-linebacker Sonny Thompson in Friday’s game. The senior injured his knee against Morse.

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Banning finds itself in the same situation as Carson. The Pilots are 0-2 against tough competition and have struggled offensively, scoring only one touchdown in two games--losses to Muir, 16-6, and Long Beach Poly, 15-0.

Banning faces its third consecutive ranked Southern Section opponent Friday night when it travels to Tustin (2-0), the No. 5-ranked team in Division IV.

“We’re playing tough teams,” Banning Coach Ed Paculba said. “They’re all ranked and we’re not even listed.”

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Serra guard Rick Price, one of the nation’s top basketball recruits, had a home visit Tuesday night from Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and will leave today on a recruiting trip to the Durham, N.C., school.

Price’s father, also named Rick, said his son will most likely choose between Duke and Kansas, with California a distant third. The elder Price said his son has eliminated Arizona as a prospective school.

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Justin Sagato, the Leuzinger senior who was shot on campus Monday by a reputed gang member, played on the Olympian football team last year but is academically ineligible this season, assistant coach Kelvin Rutledge said.

Sagato is recovering in the hospital from two gunshot wounds to the left shoulder.

Rutledge said offensive lineman Enga Usu, Sagato’s cousin, was allowed to leave practice Monday and join his family after learning of the shooting.

Sagato’s older brother, Matthew, is a former Leuzinger linebacker.

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South Torrance co-coach Joe Austin said he would like to see running back Chad Morton get more carries after the junior rushed nine times for 35 yards Friday in a 25-20 victory over Culver City.

Through two games, senior fullback Kapono Tumale has been the Spartans’ primary ball carrier, averaging more than 100 yards.

“He’s a good back and we would’ve liked to have turned him loose a little more than we did,” Austin said of Morton, one of the team’s fastest players. “But Kapono’s also a good back, and he did a good job (Friday).”

South will need big games from both runners tonight when it plays host to Hawthorne, the area’s top-ranked team.

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Mira Costa tailback Ron Hand ranks second among area rushers with 279 yards despite lacking size (he’s 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds) and great speed.

“Even though he doesn’t have great breakaway speed, he runs so hard,” Coach Don Morrow said.

Hand and his teammates will be tested Friday night against much-improved Santa Monica at Mira Costa.

Notes

Mimi McKinney, an All-American for the Peninsula girls’ basketball team, has been reinstated by Coach Wendell Yoshida after serving a summer-long team suspension for poor classroom and practice attendance. McKinney, a 5-foot-9 senior, has narrowed her college choices to Arizona, Purdue, Virginia and Nevada-Las Vegas, among others, Yoshida said. Despite McKinney’s absence, Peninsula posted a 40-8 record during the summer with the team made up mostly of underclassmen. . . . Bishop Montgomery, unranked last week, broke into the Division II girls’ volleyball coaches’ poll at No. 6.

Because of the Yom Kippur holiday, which begins at sundown Friday, several South Bay football teams will play games tonight instead of Friday. . . . Peninsula and Hawthorne each moved up one spot in the Division III football poll following victories last week. Peninsula is No. 2 and Hawthorne is No. 4. Newbury Park, which has outscored its two opponents, 126-13, is No. 1 in the division. . . . South Torrance moved up two spots to No. 3 in the Division IX poll and Chadwick jumped two places to No. 2 in the Eight-Man Large Division following its victory over previous No. 2 Hesperia Christian.